The Owl at the Bridge, in business since 1981, specializes in scholarly, rare, and unusual out-of-print books. We stock titles in a wide range of subjects and can supply printed lists on request. Our primary interests include Italian history & culture, particularly the Renaissance. We are now divesting ourselves of our reference collection in American industrial silver, especially Gorham.

Dante Alighieri, 1265-1321.
La Comedia del divino Dante Alighieri da Firenze con la esposizione di Giuseppe Landino Passerini da Cortona.
Publisher: In Firenze. Apresso L. S. Olschki, 1911. 3 p.l., [v]-xl, [1], 524 p., 1 l.; 43.5 cm. Reproduces 101 facsimiles of woodcuts in the Venice, 1491 edition. A magnificent effort of book production to celebrate the 700th anniversary of the Divine Comedy. Gabriele d'Annunzio was to have contributed a life of Dante. He never completed it, so his 'Vita' was replaced by an earlier, already published essay on Dante. Everything else is first-rate. The handmade paper was commissioned for this edition, which was printed in 300 copies. (this is number 41). The binding is leather over wooden boards with iron clasps, bosses, and a bust of Dante (in six copies, one of which is in the Pierpont Morgan Library, the clasps, bosses, etc. are of silver). In this copy the previous owner, a Dante scholar, began annotating on the title-page, the beautiful title-page. He made two notes, then came to his senses (or someone beat him senseless). The NUC (132: 646: ND0037108) records five copies: DLC, CU, FU, DCU, MH. We have had a clamshell box made for it by James DiMarcantonio, Hope Bindery & Box Company. The condition is generally excellent; there is some scuffing, a few of the nails for the ironwork have come out. We had the leather of the clasps replaced. One of the great editions of Dante. OB1000.

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